A BILL to amend and reenact §61-7-6 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; and to amend said code by adding thereto a
new section, designated §61-7-6a, all relating to dangerous
weapons; exceptions to prohibition; and modifying the method
of establishing reciprocity between states regarding handgun
permits.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That §61-7-6 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; and that said code be amended by adding
thereto a new section, designated §61-7-6a, all to read as follows:

ARTICLE 7. DANGEROUS WEAPONS.

§61-7-6. Exceptions as to prohibitions against carrying concealed
deadly weapons.

The licensure provisions set forth in this article do not
apply to:
(1) Any person carrying a deadly weapon upon his or her own premises; nor shall anything herein prevent a person from carrying
any firearm, unloaded, from the place of purchase to his or her
home, residence or place of business or to a place of repair and
back to his or her home, residence or place of business, nor shall
anything herein prohibit a person from possessing a firearm while
hunting in a lawful manner or while traveling from his or her home,
residence or place of business to a hunting site and returning to
his or her home, residence or place of business;
(2) Any person who is a member of a properly organized
target-shooting club authorized by law to obtain firearms by
purchase or requisition from this state or from the United States
for the purpose of target practice from carrying any pistol, as
defined in this article, unloaded, from his or her home, residence
or place of business to a place of target practice and from any
place of target practice back to his or her home, residence or
place of business, for using any such weapon at a place of target
practice in training and improving his or her skill in the use of
the weapons;
(3) Any law-enforcement officer or law-enforcement official as
defined in section one, article twenty-nine, chapter thirty of this
code;
(4) Any employee of the West Virginia Division of Corrections
duly appointed pursuant to the provisions of section five, article
five, chapter twenty-eight of this code while the employee is on duty;
(5) Any member of the Armed Forces of the United States or the
militia of this state while the member is on duty;
(6) Any circuit judge, including any retired circuit judge
designated senior status by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West
Virginia, Prosecuting Attorney, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney or
a duly appointed investigator employed by a Prosecuting Attorney;
(7) Any resident of another state who has been issued a
license to carry a concealed weapon by a state or a political
subdivision which has entered into a reciprocity agreement with
this state. The governor may execute reciprocity agreements on
behalf of the state of West Virginia with states or political
subdivisions which have similar gun permitting laws and which
recognize and honor West Virginia licenses issued pursuant to
section four of this article;
(8) Any federal law-enforcement officer or federal police
officer authorized to carry a weapon in the performance of the
officer's duty; and
(9) Any Hatfield-McCoy regional recreation authority ranger
while the ranger is on duty.§61-7-6a. Reciprocity; out-of-state concealed handgun permits.
(a) A valid concealed handgun permit or license issued by
another state is valid in West Virginia if that state grants the
same right to residents of West Virginia who have valid concealed handgun permits issued pursuant to this article in their possession
while carrying concealed weapons in that state.
(b) The Attorney General shall maintain a registry of states
that meet the requirements of this section on the West Virginia
criminal information network and make the registry available to
law-enforcement officers for investigative purposes.
(c) Every twelve months after the effective date of this
section, the Attorney General shall make written inquiry of the
concealed handgun permitting authorities in each other state as to:
(i)Whether a West Virginia resident may carry a concealed handgun
in their state based upon having a valid West Virginia concealed
handgun permit; and (ii) whether a West Virginia resident may apply
for a concealed handgun in that state based upon having a valid
West Virginia concealed handgun permit. The Attorney General shall
attempt to secure from each state permission for West Virginia
residents who hold a valid West Virginia concealed handgun permit
to carry a concealed handgun in that state, either on the basis of
the West Virginia permit or on the basis that the West Virginia
permit is sufficient to permit issuance of a similar license or
permit by the other state.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to simplify and make more
efficient the reciprocity process between states regarding
concealed handgun permits.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.

§61-7-6a is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring
have been omitted.